The Reno5 Pro 5G and Reno5 5G from Chinese brand OPPO have been announced as the designated smartphones for PUBG MOBILE Esports in the Middle East and Africa region (MEA) in 2021.

OPPO says it has tailored the latest variants of the Reno5 series, which are now available for pre-order in the UAE, for gaming with features like Gaming Shortcut Mode, Gamer Mode, Bullet Screen Messages and Adjustable Gaming Touch. 

“OPPO’s strategy is focused on engaging with our users’ passions in the UAE. In line with the huge popularity of mobile gaming in the region, we invested in bringing the ideal gaming platform to our customers through our latest Reno5 series of smartphones. Selecting the new Reno5 Series as the official smartphone partner for PUBG MOBILE Esports in the Middle East and Africa region, is a testament to the extraordinary and immersive gaming experience offered by our Reno5 Pro 5G and Reno5 5G smartphones,” Ethan Xue, President of OPPO Middle East and Africa, said.

“At PUBG MOBILE, we’re committed to bring the ultimate fun and enjoyment for passionate, adventurous trendsetters and eSport enthusiasts. Leveraging on our experience and expertise in eSports, we’re thrilled to join hands with OPPO to enhance the ever-growing mobile gaming landscape,” John Lacey, Head of Tencent MENA office, said.

Kinguin has announced a partnership with CS:GO pro Maikel “Maikelele” Bill and his new community gaming platform Plearn, which gives gamers the opportunity to join events and compete in a variety of challenges to win prizes. 

Maikelele and Kinguin have a long-standing friendship, stemming from the days Maikelele played under the Team Kinguin banner, winning Gaming Paradise 2015 and placing in the top 8 at the ESL One Cologne 2015 Major.

In addition to Team Kinguin, Maikelele has also played for teams including G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. 

Now Kinguin and Maikelele are joining forces in a community-driven partnership for Maikelele’s platform, Plearn, where Kinguin will be providing prizes for challenge winners and participants. Kinguin is a long-time supporter of the CS:GO scene and this partnership is a natural next step for the company to strengthen its bond with the community.

Plearn will host weekly Kinguin-branded challenges where top winners will be granted Kinguin gift cards, while a number of participants will receive exclusive Kinguin discount codes. Furthermore, CS:GO related products available at Kinguin.net will be promoted on Plearn.gg and affiliated sites in the form of affiliate links.

The first Kinguin-branded event will begin this Thursday, March 25 with Maikelele himself live streaming the challenges together with some Plearn members. The live stream will begin at 18:00 CET over at www.twitch.tv/maikelele 

Maikel “Maikelele” Bill, Plearn Founder said: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Kinguin, a company I share fond memories of, going back to my professional CS:GO career. Without the support of the community, I wouldn’t be where I am today – this is my way of giving back. Plearn is a passion project aimed at motivating players to bring their game to a whole new level while also having the chance to win great prizes. Given my history with Kinguin, and their continuous involvement and support of the CS:GO scene, they are the perfect partner for Plearn.”

Viktor Romaniuk Wanli, Kinguin Founder and CEO said: “We are beyond excited to be partnering with a great platform led by such a great player and friend. CS:GO is a much loved game and we have always cherished its community so it is important to Kinguin to play a part in bringing this project to life. We are looking forward to helping grow a platform that puts fun and players first.”

Currently focused on CS:GO, Plearn plans to expand into more PC and console games in the future, making it possible for players of all kinds to play and earn with Plearn.

TikTok owner ByteDance is set to acquire Moonton, developer and publisher of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, in a deal reportedly worth around $4B USD. 

According to Reuters, China-based ByteDance is making the acquisition through its video games unit, Nuverse. Fellow Chinese tech giant Tencent had also made an offer for Moonton, but ByteDance matched it last week, securing the prize. 

An internal source is reported to have confirmed Moonton will continue to operate independently, though it will help to accelerate Nuverse’s global gaming offerings. 

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has seen extraordinary growth, especially in Asian markets, over the past year, and its esports events have secured sponsorships from big-name brands like Samsung, Razer, Secretlab, and Singtel. 

Nuverse’s games portfolio includes titles like Arena of Evolution, Blades of the Guardians, Burning Streetball, Eden No Tobira, Fairy Cats: Miracle Love, Strike Royale and Terminal Battleground. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The global mobile gaming market is already huge, but acquisitions like this indicate that major players like ByteDance and Tencent expect dramatic growth to continue for a long time to come.  

Staying with major Chinese gaming acquisitions, at the very end of last year, Tencent Holdings added several more game developers and publishers to its portfolio, through the acquisition of Leyou Technologies for $1.5B USD. 

Fuze.tv, the first creative studio for gamers that provides everything a gamer needs to easily capture, edit and share gaming content worth watching, has partnered with Ubisoft®, a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, to become an official sponsor for the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® North American League for the 2021 season. 

Fuze.tv was built on Overwolf, the all-in-one platform that enables creators to build, distribute, and monetize in-game apps and mods which facilitated the sponsorship. 

The partnership will begin at Stage 1 of the Rainbow Six North American League set to kick off on March 24, 2021. As part of the partnership, Fuze.tv and Ubisoft will launch a “Clips of the Week” competition, where gamers can submit their best clips to be featured in the weekly Rainbow Six North American League live broadcast.  Each week the creators of the top three featured clips will be awarded prizes including jerseys, in-game currency, and more. 

“Fuze.tv instantly captures moments as gamers play their favorite games and transforms raw highlights into gaming content worth watching and sharing. We are excited to collaborate with Fuze.tv to bring fans even closer together through capturing memorable moments Rainbow Six Siege and sharing those clips with the community,” said Adam Climan, Senior Esports Manager at Ubisoft. 

“Fuze.tv is excited to partner with Ubisoft and enhance the way Rainbow Six gamers share meaningful moments of their gameplay. Our mission is to unlock any gamer’s inner muse and become creatively powerful with easy-to-use supertools. Rainbow 6 community is a perfect match,” said Jonathan Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Fuze.tv.

“Overwolf is not only a framework; supporting creators’ success is at the center of everything we do. We are thrilled to have championed this deal between Fuze.tv, an Overwolf creator, and Ubisoft,” commented Overwolf CEO, Uri Marchand. 

For more information on how to submit your Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege clips, please visit this link. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Anyone who’s worked with video content knows how time consuming and frustrating it can be to create what you’ve got in mind, so Fuze.tv is nothing short of a content creator’s dream. Of course, the trick now is getting the global gaming community to know about it – something this sponsorship is definitely going to help with. 

Staying with Overwolf, last week the company revealed it had secured $52.5M USD in a Series C funding round, and announced the launch of CurseForge Core, a User Generated Content (UGC) as a service platform. 

Singapore-based games developer and publisher, Garena, has announced plans for a hybrid digital/in-person 2021 Free Fire World Series, with a $2M USD prize pool. 

Originally scheduled for 24 April and 1 May, but pushed back due to pandemic restrictions, the Free Fire World Series (FFWS 2021 SG) is now slated to be held in Singapore on 22-29 May. 

The event is being organised in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore CyberSports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA).

Play-in’s will start on 22 May, featuring 12 teams that placed first or second in Free Fire’s regional tournaments, while the Finals, on 29 May, will see the top two Play-In teams battle against 10 seeds from each regional tournament. 

Justin Lye, Garena Global Esports Manager, commented: “We know how highly-anticipated the World Series is to our players and fans, so we’ve been working together with the relevant authorities to ensure we give them the biggest Free Fire tournament we’ve ever hosted. Safety has been and will continue to be our biggest priority as we carry out the event. This will be a good opportunity to welcome the very best Free Fire players to Singapore, where Garena was founded.”

Jean Ng, Executive Director of Attractions, Entertainment, and Tourism Concept Development for Singapore Tourism Board added: “We are proud to support our homegrown gaming company Garena as they prepare for FFWS 2021 SG – one of the world’s leading esports tournaments. The return of such events testify to Singapore’s growing reputation as an esports destination as well as our ability to host such events safely.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Free Fire has gained significant popularity over the past year since the pandemic crisis began, building on its already strong base in Asia and South America, but also making inroads elsewhere.

Given that all Free Fire tournaments in 2020 had to shift to an entirely online format, it’s easy to understand the enthusiasm for at least a partially in-person event in May, however, with the COVID situation still extremely unpredictable, we wouldn’t be surprised to see plans change at the last minute.

UK-based esports organisation, Rix.GG, has welcomed streamers Kelsie “KayPea” Pelling and João “Darkzone” Narciso to its team of influencers and content creators. 

Canada-based Kelsie “KayPea” Pelling is a Partnered Twitch streamer who is known for specialising in the mid-lane League of Legends role. Over the years KayPea has developed a large community of people around her to share in positive and competitive gameplay. Currently, KayPea is partnered with Turtle Beach, is a Red Bull Gamer, and is part of the official League Partner Program.

Portugal-based João “Darkzone” Narciso is a Partnered Twitch streamer who won the VALORANT Spike Nations of Twitch as a member of Team Portugal. He is best-known for playing first-person shooter games like VALORANT and Warzone. He is also a friend of MissRage, and the two will continue to make collaborative content under the Rix.GG banner.

Jamie Lewis, founder and CEO of Rix.GG, said: “Kelsie represents our first real foray out of Europe, and her status as a globally popular streamer is exactly in line with our global ambition. I can’t wait to see KayPea where our creative team can take one of my favourite League streamers of all time.”

Kelsie “KayPea” Pelling, influencer, said: “Very pleased to be working together with Rix.GG going forward. They have a great group of young people in charge with quality experience in the scene and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together!”

João “Darkzone” Narciso, commented: “I have no words to describe how excited I am to join Rix.GG. I know I’ll be surrounded by very talented and amazing creators and I can’t wait to be a part of this family. This is something I’ve been waiting for for a long time. Can’t wait to see what this journey brings me and Rix.GG. Let’s break some records together!”

Staying with Rix.GG, at the start of the month the organisation also signed popular Minecraft streamer Callum “SeaPeeKay” Knight as a content creator.